Ion beam sputter deposition of thin film sensors for applications in highly loaded contacts

Abstract

In highly loaded lubricated rolling and sliding contacts (elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) contacts) which occur in many kinds of machine elements the experimental determination of the temperature or pressure distribution is desirable. A lot of theoretical work concerning these problems has been published but there is a lack of experimental data. To carry out real measurements thin film sensors were developed. The thin films with typical thicknesses of 0.1–1.2μm were deposited on steel disc substrates by using ion beam sputtering techniques. In addition the ion beam was used to etch definite sensor geometries which were defined photolithographically. The investigations showed that appropriate thin film sensors with high adhesive strength and sufficient durability under EHL conditions can be produced by ion beam sputtering. Measurement of pressure and temperature distribution in EHL contacts was possible for hertzian stresses p H = 600−1300 N mm −2, sum velocities V Σ = 1−24 m s −1 and slip s = 0%−30%.